christopher price

How Patriots, Jets continue to force each other to evolve

The Patriots and Jets have always made personnel moves with one eye on their own roster and another on how a transaction might foul things up for the divisional rivals, particularly when it comes to the New England passing game.

When Rex Ryan took over as the head coach of the Jets prior to the 2009 season, the Patriots were a vertical team that enjoyed much of its success in the passing game by having Tom Brady look deep to wide receiver Randy Moss. But in the first contest between Ryan’s Jets and New England, it was clear that something had to change: The Patriots were unable to connect on those deep balls, and struggled against the pressure of New York’s defensive front. In the end, the Jets were able to hit Tom Brady seven times in a 16-9 win. It was clear the Patriots had to adapt.

As a result, over the next 13 months, the Patriots fundamentally overhauled their passing game. They jettisoned Moss in favor of Deion Branch and added tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, all while adding undersized scat back Danny Woodhead and continuing to lean on Wes Welker. (They also swapped out Laurence Maroney at running back for BenJarvus Green-Ellis.) Gone were the days of the seven-step drop: Instead, there was a greater focus on short and intermediate routes with quicker receivers who could beat coverage.

As a result, the Jets were forced to counter. In 2010, they added cornerback Antonio Cromartie and drafted corner Kyle Wilson, but still struggled when it came to trying to slow down Gronkowski and Hernandez. The bigger, bulkier Gronkowski was a real matchup nightmare for the New York secondary -- he crushed them last November, hauling in eight catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. (In four career games against the Jets, Gronkowski has 14 catches -- 11 of which have gone for first downs -- for 170 yards and two touchdowns.)

So this past offseason, New York added a pair of oversized safeties in an attempt to try and corral Hernandez and Gronkowski, signing free agents LaRon Landry and Yeremiah Bell. Landry is 6-feet, 213 pounds (and the owner of some freakishly sized arms), while Bell is 6-feet and 200 pounds. Both have added some bulk to a safety position that was relatively undersized last season.

While neither one of them are particularly outstanding in pass coverage -- Pro Football Focus has Bell graded out at +0.3 over the course of the first six games of the season, while Landry is at +0.2, which put them eight and ninth on the team overall, respectively -- their size and speed mean they’ll likely play a large role in trying to slow down both tight ends on Sunday.

“They’re tough, physical players. They’re good players,” Gronkowski said of the Bell/Landry combo. “That’s why they’ve been in the league a while. They’re very experienced. You have to be aware of where they are, as well as all the other defensive players too. Because they’re all good. Just have to go out there and be ready and play physical.”

“Bell, we played against him in Miami. LaRon Landry, we haven’t seen -- he didn’t play against us in Washington last year -- but he’s a real athletic guy, one of the fastest players probably at his position in the league,” Belichick said of the combo that has taken almost every defensive snap this season for the Jets.

“They do a good job; they always do a good job there. They’re well coached defensively, they have good players. They always give you different matchups. It’s hard to tell exactly what you’re going to get. They’ve used different combinations back there and done different things with, whether it be Smith, Landry, [Josh] Bush, Bell, whoever it happens to be. I’d include [Bart] Scott and [David] Harris in that group too. We have to be prepared for all of it, but they’re all good players.”

In an ironic twist, both Landry and Bell drew interest from the Patriots this offseason, but neither were able to make it work with New England. Landry’s visit with the Patriots, however, still sticks in his craw. He told the New York Daily News that he was put off by the fact that Belichick wasn’t around when he had his visit in March. “He wasn’t even there,” Landry said. “So that was a no-brainer. I should have never taken that visit. I was like, ‘Damn, if you’re going to visit, the head coach (should be) there.’ I felt, ‘OK, that’s a slap in the face.’”

Ryan is glad Landry and Bell made the decision they did, but he cautioned reporters Wednesday about going out and landing them specifically with the preconceived idea of slowing New England’s tight end duo.

“I think they’re playing pretty good. Both of these guys are good football players, they’re physical, they’re tough guys and they’re passionate players,” Ryan said of the two. “But specifically against Gronk and Hernandez, I don’t necessarily see that. I think on defense, you try to get 11 good football players on the field and that’s what we do. When we have those two guys out there, we know we have two really good players with those two.”

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